As announced this Sunday, the Colorado Buffaloes will face the BYU Cougars in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 5:30 MST. This is a familiar scene for CU, as their most recent bowl appearance came back in 2020 in this same contest. However, they came up short at the hands of the Texas Longhorns, which fell in line with a common theme they’ve established over the last two decades.
While CU has been to four bowl games from 2005-2020, they’ve lost each time. The last time they came out of one victorious was the 2004 Houston Bowl in which they defeated the UTEP Miners by a score of 33-28. Let’s look back at what qualities that team shared with this year’s as CU builds toward ending their long-standing bowl game drought.
Regular Season Performance
In 2024, the Buffs have a leg-up on the 2004 squad with how they performed in the regular season. The team that went on to win the Houston Bowl was unranked, got blown out in the Big 12 Championship, and had lost four regular season games, all of which were against conference opponents.
For this year’s team, despite not making the conference title, they find themselves ranked No. 23 in the final College Football Playoff Top 25 and also hold a record of 9-3, with just two conference losses.
This year’s Buffs haven’t just been winning more games either, they’ve been winning by much more comfortable scores. For the 2004 team, their average margin of victory was 9.85 points, but in 2024, that number has ballooned up to 20.7. One thing both of these seasons had in common was an early victory in the Rocky Mountain Showdown to set the pace.
Star Players
In 2004, the highlight players of this team were very different from those of this year’s squad. A run-first offense was led by star running back Bobby Purify, who rushed for 1,097 yards and nine touchdowns on the year while also adding 206 receiving yards to his total. On defense, the Buffs were led by linebacker Brian Iwuh, who recorded 88 tackles, two sacks and a pick-six on the year.
Other names like Joel Klatt, Mason Crosby, and Thaddeus Washington rounded out some of the other big names on the team, but this was a far cry from the star power CU brings to its bowl game in 2024.
With names such as Shedeur Sanders, Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, LaJohntay Wester, and most of all, Heisman front-runner Travis Hunter, CU has elevated its brand of football to the next level. There is good reason this team was in contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and these players represent that.
So, what should CU fans expect? This year’s team has raised the bar for what Colorado football is all about. They have brought one of the most high-level teams in school history to the field this year, and with just about all their stars planning to play in San Antonio, it’s time for fans to buckle up and watch this team play to make some school history.
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